Party Popper or Party Pooper?

Shark has arrived, and nobody really knows if he's brought a present, or is about to eat everything in sight.

Monocled mouse full of cheese and on the run!

I recently drew a couple of mice strolling through the smoggy streets of England. http://bit.ly/HWJjZz

They stopped for tea and cheese, and attracted some unwanted attention.

Pirate doodles.

There be Pirates!

I like drawing beards, and large jaws and rotten teeth.

I like drawing pirates.

A Day in the Life...

I recently joined with an agent who represents me in Europe, The Bright Agency.


They run a very interesting blog that covers 'A Day in the Life' of their illustrators. Here is my entry - http://bit.ly/A8X0fq






Most days of my life begin with a cocker spaniel leaping onto the bed, lying flat on my chest and requesting a walk. It's possibly the most snuggly alarm clock on the market, albeit one with the stinkiest breath - but tripe will have that effect.

Once dressed and fed, man and dog take to the countryside of Surrey. Walking the canal towpaths in the company of breakfast stalking heron and the wide-eyed, and overly suspicious deer; or we head to the golf course, where I throw a frisbee as far as my creaking bones will allow.

The morning walk refreshes the mind and, returning home, I take the 16 stepping stone commute to my garden studio, ideally there should be 17 stones so my final step is in the mud, which I squelch through my carpet. In the summer months I'll throw open the windows and doors, if it's winter I'll slide across the floor on my belly to fire up the fan heater as quickly as is humanly possible.

Now we're in the studio you might expect to view a photograph of an interesting and inspirational artistic workspace. Sadly my walls are constructed from the least adhesive material you're ever likely to find - a roll of duct tape won't hold a postcard to the wall when faced with the tremors caused by a sparrow landing on the roof.

So here is my functional space.  The wardrobe (that came with the house) cunningly doubles as a bookcase and has a conveniently placed mirror, for the illustrator to contort his face into that of a bear bothered by a fly, or a stomping troll. 

A studio re-design is required, so you're likely to find colourful piles of books sprouting like the hardy perennials that surround them in the garden.

There is inspiration to be taken from my surroundings though. The green woodpecker who delved headfirst into an ants nest, covering himself from head to toe with scurrying food. Or the baby blue tit, who bravely leapt from our nesting box only to discover that flying wasn't as easy as mother made it sound, so he scuttled behind my studio door until he was sure the coast was clear. The perplexed pheasant, the resident grasshopper, the fearsome flying ants, and not forgetting the visit of a thousand starlings, which brought Hitchcock's The Birds to my very own doorstep ; it all goes on in a garden.

My university years fell when the macintosh was something to be worn in the rain, so I started life as a dip pen and watercolour artist. My work now begins with a 2B pencil, and over the years I've migrated to the computer. It's an ever evolving process and, with the recent addition of the Cintiq, I feel that I have many exciting avenues to explore ahead of me. I still use a dip pen and wash on occasions, I paint textures to export to the computer; but mostly my process consists of a pencil, my trusty moleskine, the whir of a scanner and photoshop.

I feel very lucky to have worked as a full time illustrator for over 15 years, as I boy I carried a sketchbook everywhere - even the bright lights of Blackpool could not compete. There have been bumps and re-inventions along the way but I'm as excited by my work now as I ever have been. Much of my career has been spent working with American clients, so I'm hoping that my recent arrival with Bright and a quick MOT test might bring a re-introduction to my nearest neighbours.

My day ends with a pulling down of the studio blinds, a locking of the door and a squelch where the 17th step should be, through the back door and a cuddle with tripe breath (or the wife, whoever I happen to meet first).

...and then to watch a little television, or read a book by the log fire.

You look how I feel, mate.

A few quick turnaround character sketches.

A really enjoyable few hours and something I'd like to return to very soon, to further push the characters and make them a little more my own.

Bears (yet again)...

I appear to have a thing for bears at the moment. I shall not draw another until at least the year 2012, I promise.

Yes, a whole 7 weeks.

Bears (again)

I've been drawing bears again.

Big surly bears and little imps.

A mucky pup.

Splodge splodge.

Dragons Revisited

One of my very first books, back in 1996 (yeah, yeah I know!), was about the littlest dragon. I haven't drawn a dragon since and I find that a shame. So I've set that right.

The Littlest Dragon was a black line book, and I fancied breaking open the inks and dip pen.

So I re-read the book, stuck on some Oasis and Blur and turned back the clock.

 Here is the little chap sitting in his window in 1996, he'll be a big dragon now...

Mice, taking a stroll.

Gone Fishing

Here is an illustration of a bear fishing. I think it's lacking something.

I'll come back to it after I've delivered some roughs in a couple of weeks to see if he's going to catch anything, or if he'll need to re-think his strategy.

...and after that re-visit.

The Hairy Bear Bunch.

It's been a little while. So thought I'd post a few initial bear sketches.

I now have to continue until we have a character, stick him in a boat, and see if he can catch something for his (and my) lunch.

When I grow up, I want to be...

Monsters, Etc.

I have never before drawn monsters.

A gila monster, yes. Dragons, aliens, narwhals, a newfoundland dog and a baby, yes - but no actual monsters.

So I thought it was time.

They are spruced up for the Mon-scars, like Oscars but for... oh, nevermind.

From 0 to publish post in 30 minutes.

Now fully recovered following the extreme sport squirrel (he jumped 20 feet from a tree, narrowly missing my head - I may have mentioned it) I've decided to try a little loosening up exercise.

I've been agonising over every minute detail of my art recently, I'm not sure it's entirely healthy. I'm about embark on a toucan and a penguin illustration, so with the hope of avoiding another tortuous few days I decided to give myself 30 minutes to research, draw, colour and upload a toucan and penguin to my blog - and to approach the art in a new way. Publishing and sharing the results (no matter what) would, it was hoped, sharpen the senses.

I had to extend my deadline very slightly, as the penguins at Cincinatti Zoo made me giggle too much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW1jmatHBIc

I don't know if it was an entirely successful exercise but I've definitely taken something from it (apart from "make toucan beaks larger than this") - and I think it'll change the way I approach my next illustration. So that's nice.

More beards.

Yesterday I saw a woodpecker, nothing too uncommon about that, but I actually saw it wood pecking in a furious manner - a first. A shock of red hair, dressed in black and white, wild eyes and head banging - a proper punk woodpecker.

I found this quite exciting and was now keenly looking for birds. I spotted a bald eagle lolloping through the air, in Surrey! On closer inspection it was a crow awkwardly carrying a bread roll. An easy mistake that many have made before, and many will in the future.

I'm now an amateur twitcher. This morning I saw a swan doing the caterpillar. This Boogaloo Swan was actually having a bath before trying it on with a lady swan. She wasn't interested and flew off in the direction of Homebase.

Anyway, new work.

I'm still on beards and medieval activities. I'm drawing a line under this for a while now though and attempting to re-discover my looser self.

New work alert.

A new portfolio piece (I think it's finished...)

I think, next time, I might go with something less complex - a kitten with a ball of wool, a child eating a cornetto, that type of thing.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

15 years as an illustrator and this book made good all of the barren periods, the overnighters and lost weekends, the hard slogs. You welcome each commission and give them your all, but some just feel like a gift.

I researched like crazy, watched every youtube video and bought every book, I went through umpteen pencils, erasers and fingers. There are, perhaps, a few things within the book that I'd approach differently today, but here it is...